May 5, 2021

Rideshare Opportunity for Cubesat (Source: Space Strategies Center)
The Defense Technology Innovation Program LLC (DTIP) in partnership with Marcantonio Global LLC (MG) and Geometric Space Corporation (GSC) has developed a low-cost CubeSat Rideshare Program for Geometric-1. Geometric-1 is an ESPA ring port integration mission aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 June 2022 Launch. Geometric-1 will launch a 12 x 6U CubeSat adapter plate into Low Earth Orbit. They are seeking to allocate a 6U CubeSat deployment to eligible missions. Click here. (5/5)

Mercury Capsule Readied for Display at Smithsolian "Destination Moon" Gallery (Source: CollectSpace)
The Mercury capsule that Alan Shepard flew in 60 years ago today is being prepared to go back on public display. Shepard became the first American in space on May 5, 1961, flying on the Freedom 7 capsule on a suborbital flight. The capsule has been on display in various museums in the decades since, most recently at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. Last October, the capsule returned to the Smithsonian, which is preparing it to go on display in a new "Destination Moon" gallery at the National Air and Space Museum next year. The capsule is in "remarkably good condition," one museum conservator said, although some materials like foam in the capsule's interior are degrading. The museum is also preparing to put Shepard's pressure suit on display in the same gallery. (5/5)

Loft Orbital Wins Space Force SBIR Contract (Source: Space News)
Loft Orbital won a Space Force contract to test edge computing in space. The SBIR award from the Space and Missile Systems Center, valued at $1.5 million, will fund the development of an edge computer processor that will be used on a Loft Orbital spacecraft. Onboard computing allows satellites to process data they collect and perform autonomous decision-making and tasks faster than if the data had to be transported to a server on the ground. The contract also includes work on machine learning software systems to autonomously detect and counter cyber threats onboard the spacecraft. (5/5)

Army Seeks Assured Access to Satellite Reconnaissance (Source: Breaking Defense)
The U.S. Army wants to ensure that it retains control of any reconnaissance payloads it flies on future satellites. The Army is in discussions with the intelligence community to ensure that intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) sensors it flies on satellites, including commercial ones, will be available to the service when it needs them. There's long been concern by the service that the intelligence community will not provide the Army with the information it needs on a timely basis, a concern heightened by the growing role of space-based ISR for the Army's future operations. (5/5)

Space National Guard Planned by DoD (Source: Stars & Stripes)
The Defense Department is nearing a decision on how to create a Space National Guard. At a House hearing Tuesday, Gen. Daniel Hokanson, chief of the National Guard Bureau, said he will meet today with John Roth, the acting Air Force secretary, and Space Force Gen. John Raymond on plans to create a Space National Guard. There are about 1,500 personnel in the Army and Air National Guards involved in space operations that would likely be moved to a Space National Guard. Some in Congress have questioned the need for a Space National Guard, citing the costs to establish and operate it. (5/5)

Evasive Maneuvers Expected for Galileo Constellation (Source: Space News)
Operators of Europe's Galileo satellite navigation system expect to have to make more emergency maneuvers to avoid debris. A Galileo satellite had to perform a maneuver in March to avoid an Ariane 4 rocket stage in medium Earth orbit, the first such collision avoidance maneuver for the satellite constellation. It took 10 days to get the satellite back into its original location in the system, although Galileo services were not interrupted. Spaceopal, the company that handles Galileo operations, says it expects such maneuvers to become more frequent in the future as the amount of debris, even in medium Earth orbit, increases. (5/5)

Action Needed to Manage Orbital Congestion (Source: Space News)
A new study calls on the U.S. government to accelerate the procurement of commercial space technologies and manage growing congestion in low Earth orbit. The report Tuesday by the nonpartisan think tank The Center for the Study of the Presidency & Congress warned that "America will lose its competitive edge in space" if the Space Force does not reform its acquisitions. Among its recommendations was for the Pentagon to make it easier for companies to compete for launch services. The report also endorsed development of "internationally agreed rules of the road for space" for Earth orbit and, eventually, the moon. (5/5)

Study Calls on U.S. to Change How it Buys Space Technology (Source: Space News)
The Center for the Study of the Presidency & Congress calls on the U.S. government to accelerate the procurement of commercial space technologies. CSPC is a nonpartisan think tank led by former members of Congress Mike Rogers, of Michigan; and Glenn Nye, of Virginia. In a 2019 report the group called out DoD for not opening up opportunities for emerging commercial space companies, and was especially critical of the national security space launch program.

“If the Space Force does not address the underlying issue of acquisition reform, America will lose its competitive edge in space,” said the study. “The commercial space sector has radically reshaped the way countries and companies access space, yet the old model of block-buys, multi-year contracts, and nearly bespoke vehicles remains... It is insufficient to change contracting processes if the outcome is that legacy providers continue to slow the pace and increase the cost of innovation,” the report said. (5/4)

SpaceFund Establishes Consulting Arm (Source: SpaceFund)
SpaceFund venture capital firm announced today that it is spinning off a new aerospace strategic consulting company to serve growing government, corporate, and investment industry demand for advice and informed diligence. The new firm, SpaceFund Intelligence (SFI) builds on the skills and team already assembled by the rapidly growing SpaceFund venture capital firm, while adding high level players to its roster of top-flight experts. (5/5)

Australia Joins The Race For Supersonic Flight (Source: Simple Flying)
A Ukrainian-Australian joint venture is eyeing supersonic passenger flights across the Pacific. A low-profile Australian company with space and supersonic aspirations has teamed with a Ukrainian engine designer and jet engine manufacturer to push the boundaries of commercial passenger flights. Cosmovision Global Corporation, a business registered in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, is joining forces with Zaporizhzhia (Ukraine) based aircraft engine design business SE Ivchenko-Progress and engine manufacturer JSC Motor Sich to develop a supersonic passenger jet. (5/5)

Here’s Why We Need to Clean Up Our Space Junk (Source: World Economic Forum)
From the moment humanity entered space with the launch of Sputnik I in 1957, orbital debris began to accumulate. By 2020, those 2,200 operational satellites were joined by approximately 34,000 pieces of debris 10 cm in diameter or larger, roughly 900,000 objects from 1 cm to 10 cm, and more than 128,000,000 pieces under 1 cm. The mass of debris in Earth orbit totals nearly 7 million kilograms. While orbits eventually decay and debris can re-enter and burn up in Earth’s atmosphere, the process can take years.

In Earth’s equatorial plane, just under 30,000 km above Earth surface, hundreds of satellites are in geostationary orbit. Most are communications and weather satellites, but they share their orbit with deceased predecessors.

The amount of junk in geostationary orbit pales in comparison to the satellites and debris in the zone that extends just above Earth’s atmosphere upwards to 2,000 km above its surface – known as low-Earth orbit, or LEO. To get to higher orbits, the Moon, or other planets, spacecraft must pass through low-Earth orbit, where debris is most dense and orbital velocities are greatest. So, space junk imperils not merely spacecraft in LEO, but all forms of space travel. (5/5)

Blue Origin to Fly First People on New Shepard in July, Including Auctioned Seat (Source: Space News)
Blue Origin announced May 5 that it will fly people on its New Shepard suborbital vehicle for the first time July 20, and will auction off one of the seats on that launch. The company said that, after years of test flights without anyone on board, it will start flying people on New Shepard. The announcement took place 60 years to the day after the vehicle’s namesake, Alan Shepard, became the first American space on the suborbital Mercury 3 launch. The scheduled date of the flight is the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing.

The company hinted during its most recent test flight of the vehicle April 14 that it was ready to start flying people on the vehicle. The company used the flight to test procedures for future crew flights, including having company personnel, playing the role of customers, boarding the vehicle during prelaunch preparations, and also practicing exiting the vehicle after landing. (5/5)

Ninth-Flown Falcon-9 Booster Launches 60 Starlink Satellites (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
Less than a week after the last Starlink satellite launch, SpaceX sent an additional 60 high-speed internet satellites into orbit using a Falcon 9 first stage booster flying for the ninth time. On May 4 a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched another 60 Starlink internet satellites. The first stage for this mission, core B1049-9, was recovered successfully by SpaceX’s drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You” staged around 380 miles downrange and was supported by the ship GO Quest.

The fairing halves were also expected to be recovered by one of the company fleet’s newest addition, a contracted recovery vessel named “Shelia Bordelon.” In the coming days, SpaceX’s recovery vessels will return to Port Canaveral on Florida’s Space Coast where the fairings and booster are prepped for transport back the company’s processing facilities for reconditioning and eventual reuse. (5/4)

SNC’s Dream Chaser Spaceplane Cleared for Florida Runway Landing (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) has entered into a Use Agreement for Space Florida’s Launch and Landing Facility (LLF) to land the Dream Chaser spaceplane in support of NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services-2 (CRS-2) contract. Dream Chaser, America’s Spaceplane, will service the International Space Station (ISS) under the CRS-2 contract in 2022.

The Use Agreement makes SNC the first commercial user of Space Florida’s FAA Re-entry Site Operator License and provides the runway and support facilities needed during testing and landing. It also takes SNC one step further in applying for its own FAA re-entry license, something needed ahead of the first Dream Chaser mission next year. (5/4)

SecDef Says Climate Change is an 'Existential' National Security Threat (Source: AlterNet)
During his four years in the White House, former President Donald Trump was an outspoken climate change denier — loudly voicing his unwavering support for fossil fuels over green energy. But President Joe Biden and his administration acknowledge climate change as a daunting reality, including Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III — who described climate change as a national security threat during a recent speech at the Leaders Summit on Climate.

Austin told attendees, "Today, no nation can find lasting security without addressing the climate crisis. We face all kinds of threats in our line of work, but few of them truly deserve to be called existential. The climate crisis does deserve to be called existential…. climate change is making the world more unsafe, and we need to act.'

Extreme weather-related events existed long before climate change, but climate change is making them more frequent and more severe — from wildfires in California and Australia to record flooding in Houston from Hurricane Harvey in 2017. And Austin, during his speech, warned, "From coast to coast and across the world, the climate crisis has caused substantial damage and put people in danger, making it more difficult for us to carry out our mission of defending the United States and our allies." (5/4)

Wine That Went to Space For Sale with $1 Million Price Tag (Source: AP)
The wine is out of this world. The price is appropriately stratospheric. Christie’s said Tuesday it is selling a bottle of French wine that spent more than a year in orbit aboard the International Space Station. The auction house thinks a wine connoisseur might pay as much as $1 million to own it. The Pétrus 2000 is one of 12 bottles sent into space in November 2019 by researchers exploring the potential for extraterrestrial agriculture. It returned 14 months later subtly altered, according to wine experts who sampled it at a tasting in France. (5/4)

AST SpaceMobile Adds Public Company Expertise to Leadership Team (Source: Space News)
ST SpaceMobile, which became a public company in April to develop a cellphone-compatible satellite broadband constellation, is expanding its leadership team. The company, based at the Midland TX spaceport, appointed Brian Heller as vice president, general counsel and secretary, and Scott Wisniewski as executive vice president and chief strategy officer. Heller has experience with two companies that were public before they were sold in 2019. (5/4)